Canada Gets Fourth National Wireless Carrier

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Up until today, Canada has had three national wireless providers: Telus, Bell, and Rogers. Critics have said that these three carriers aren’t particularly competitive. Back in 2008, Canada’s AWS auction opened the playing field for some new entrants. The first of these to launch is Wind Mobile, a company owned by Canadian firm Globalive and funded in part by the Egypt-based Orascom. Later this year, Dave (davewireless.com) and Videotron will join the party.

Meanwhile, Telus, Bell, and Rogers (naturally) have fought the Wind Mobile launch tooth and nail. At one point, it led to the Canadian government barring the launch, only to be overruled by Industry Canada, another part of the government.

The question is, will Wind Mobile provide the shake-up that Canada’s wireless industry desperately needs? It looks shaky. Wind Mobile is only launching in Calgary and Toronto for now, with several store locations and kiosks, and spotty network coverage everywhere else (see map, pictured). Boy Genius Report has an excellent write-up of plan details and pricing for a BlackBerry 9700 on Wind Mobile. Stay tuned for more developments.